The air cracked.
One moment, Damien stood in silence—his wounds gone, his body whole, the last words of a legend fading in the space behind his skull.
The next—
Reality buckled.
And the world snapped back.
WHUMP.
His feet struck solid stone.
Cool wind brushed his face.
The canyon.
The same clearing. The same blood-streaked ground where the G-rank beast had fallen.
Only now, the corpse was gone. The marks erased. As if the world had folded it all away the moment he vanished.
Damien blinked.
Then—
——————————
[System Synchronization Re-established]
[External Authority: Cleared]
[Mainframe Online — Full Access Restored]
——————————
The familiar golden sheen of his interface flickered back into place like a veil returning to its proper frame.
System back.
Control back.
The weight of silence replaced by utility again.
And just as he finished drawing breath—
"Master."
The voice wasn't alarmed.
Not rushed. Not breathless.
